CHAPTER 1
1 week after the Cleansing
Kaito had taken charge of the village, being the oldest of 15 years of age. He stood over the tallest hill, surveilling his village with his hands on his hips. His friend, Gakupo was with him, carving something out of wood with his knife.
"I'll never get it right," he muttered. "Dad wanted my to be a carpenter like him. I couldn't even carve straight."
Kaito shrugged. "We'll find a place for you in the village soon, like everyone else. Only a few don't have anything to do." He was silent for a moment, acutely aware of his purple-haired friend looking at him. "The twins. What do you think they can do?"
"Bake?"
"The sisters took care of that."
"Fireworks?"
"Come on, Gak. Those fireworks will scare everyone in a 5-mile radius halfway around the world. Seriously."
Gakupo scratched his short-cropped hair, hating how it always curved into his scalp and tickling his shoulders. "Guard the village, I guess."
Kaito sighed. He turned around to look at his friend, his eyes full of stress. "Meiko claimed she can do that. It's not that she's a girl, but she's...a bit fragile."
Gakupo stood up and rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "She said her dad used to teach her fencing in his spare time. Said she's fit for the job. Give her a chance, Kaito."
The young chief nodded uncertainly. "The twins are still young anyway, they can - "
He was cut off by his friend's sharp cry. He followed Gakupo's gaze to the edge of the forest where a teal-haired girl was barely standing up. She looked stick-thin, her skinny legs barely looked as if they could hold her weight, her eyes were swollen and red and her arms were covered in bruises and her jeans were torn.
"Gakupo, get the others," Kaito cried, beginning to race towards the little girl. "Get Luka and Gumi to prepare the poultices!"
As Gakupo headed down the hill, Kaito reached the girl and she collapsed into his arms. Her pigtails spilling over his shoulder and he tried to carry her. No! Don't bail on me, he thought anxiously, gritting his teeth as he heaved her up. Her body was hot with fever. I'm not gonna loose you. There's so much death already, and not just from the Cleansing.